News that Gov. McCrory’s office asked public school leaders this past summer to find ways to cut their budget by as much as 2 percent should come as a surprise in an election year where he has touted his commitment to public education and a creation of a surplus in our current budget. But it … Continue reading Willful Ignorance Is Not Bliss, But Rather Mean – McCrory’s Orwellian Contradiction
Public Education
Buy The Damn Cookies! And Other Thoughts About School Fundraising
If you live in a neighborhood with children, you may have experienced receiving a knock on the door or the ringing of a doorbell by a school aged child inquiring if you may want to buy some sort of product or consumable as part of a fundraiser. I want to encourage you to buy it. … Continue reading Buy The Damn Cookies! And Other Thoughts About School Fundraising
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“Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be.” – What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Education Reform
400 years since he died. Four centuries. Multiple generations. New countries discovered. And we still read his work and revere it as a mirror of human nature. There is a bit of a revival taking place in some schools involving Shakespeare. The Common Core asks that student in each grade level come engage with Shakespeare … Continue reading “Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be.” – What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Education Reform
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A Letter to My Daughter – “Your Dad Is a Feminist”
McK, First, I want to let you know that you are the most important woman in my life. Always will be. Maybe society dictates that I should say your mother is the most important woman in my life, but she and I look at you and Malcolm as the most important woman and man in … Continue reading A Letter to My Daughter – “Your Dad Is a Feminist”
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As God as My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” – Arthur Carlson, General Manager of WKRP, a fictional radio station in Cincinnati. It's Thanksgiving , and I just watched this episode again and it makes me laugh at how it wonderfully pens human nature which tends to be full of full intentions but short … Continue reading As God as My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly
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Hio Hio Ipsanio – NC Already Has Homemade Remedies for Struggling Schools
Forget pop culture references. Time to go retro. One of the best television shows of the early to mid-1990’s was on CBS (specifically Monday night) called Northern Exposure. It chronicled the adventures of a Jewish doctor from New York fresh out of an Ivy League medical school who must serve a community in Alaska because … Continue reading Hio Hio Ipsanio – NC Already Has Homemade Remedies for Struggling Schools
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An Application for “The Traditional Public Charter School”
In an educational climate (here in North Carolina and elsewhere) that seems to be changing as quickly as the Earth’s temperature, it might be time to suggest helping traditional schools gain some more resources and support from the North Carolina General Assembly. In the past four years, North Carolina has successfully taken a public education … Continue reading An Application for “The Traditional Public Charter School”
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Opportunity Grants and Missed Opportunity Refunds
Irony makes this world go ‘round and North Carolina is providing plenty of it in the form of vouchers, or as proponents call them in North Carolina, Opportunity Grants. In truth, they should be called Missed Opportunity Grants, because the money that the North Carolina General Assembly has spent and wants to spend on vouchers … Continue reading Opportunity Grants and Missed Opportunity Refunds
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The Unwritten Expectations of Great Teachers
When you become a public school teacher there are sets of rules and dictates you must abide by. There are laws. There are procedures. There are decrees. There are edicts. There is protocol. And there are expectations. When parents, students, voters, taxpayers, government officials, post-secondary institutions, and employers all have some sort of stake in … Continue reading The Unwritten Expectations of Great Teachers
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Teachers, EpiPens, and “Educational” Anaphylactic Shock
In the summer of 1988, I was at the family farm in northeast Georgia feeding calves in a shelter located behind my uncle’s veterinary clinic. I entered the doorway and immediately was greeted by a red wasp who took a small divet out of the tip of my nose while injecting its venom. I immediately … Continue reading Teachers, EpiPens, and “Educational” Anaphylactic Shock
caffeinated rage 